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Sunday, 17 May 2015

Black & Blue, Moated Castle and Ancient Stone

Black & Blue :- A different perspective and view of the Rottingdean Terraces that are situated on the seafront between the White Horse Hotel and the beach in the village of Rottingdean just a few miles to the East of Brighton. It's the sort of thing that many would walk by and not even notice from this angle. There's not a lot to see and it's pretty mundane but it caught my eye as I loved the play of light and shadows as well as the lines and mirrored colours. The terraces were orinially built sometime during the 1950's. By the 1980's they were run down and deshevelled and remained in that state for some time until they were cleaned, repaired, painted up and reopened tto the public with a new lease of life. During the summer months open air concerts and theatre performaces are staged here. What's behind the door? Where does it lead to? I have no idea ...

Moated Castle :- Like something straight out of an Alan Lee painting or a structure you'd find on the backlot of a film company ... but this is the real thing. Tucked away within the county of Kent you'll find Scotney Castle which is now owned, run and looked after by the National Trust. The old ruined castle surrounded by a moat is thought to have been built somewhere around 1378 / 1380 by Roger Ashburnham. It is a real medieval moated manor house that would have (when originally built) had a rounded tower at each of its four corners. Now only the Ashburnham round tower remains and much of the original old manor house was purposely ruined and left as a "garden feature" in the mid 1800's when Edward Hussey III had a new house / Castle built which was designed by Anthony Salvin. The new house or "Scotney Castle" as it's now called (the old medieval ruins are known as "Old Sctoney Castle") sit further up on a hill overlooking the estate, gardens and ruins. It's a very romanticised place to visit and the old ruined castle is such a majestic thing to explore.

Ancient Stone :- Tucked away in the small village of Clayton in West Sussex you'll find this ancient place of worship. The church has been listed as a Grade I structure because of its architectural and historical importance. It's an 11th Century Anglo-Saxon building that still has an extesive set of 12th Century paintings on its interior walls. The village of Clayton (unsurprisingly) is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 and has connections with William de Warenne who built Lewes Castle.